2010 New Delhi Games

2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi was arrested today by Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of irregularities during the XIX CWG held in New Delhi last year. Kalmadi was earlier summoned to the CBI headquaters for questioning, his third visit to the agency headquarters, before being arrested. Along with Kalmadi, two of his assciates from the Organizing Committee Surjeet Lal, deputy director general (procurement) and A SV Prasad, joint director general (sports) were also arrested.

India's ruling Congress party swung into damage control mode and wasted little time in suspending the MP from Pune. AICC general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi announced "The disciplinary committee of the Congress has suspended Suresh Kalmadi from the membership of the party,". Kalmadi was sacked on January 24, 2011 as Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman when stories about graft surfaced.

Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and Director General VK Verma were arrested today by the Central Bureau of Investigation under charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating.

A statement issued by the CBI on Wednesday read as follows: "It is alleged that the accused officers abused their official position and entered into criminal conspiracy with a Switzerland-based company and other unknown persons to cheat the government in awarding contract to the said company for acquiring Timing, Scoring and Result System at exorbitant rates of Rs. 107 crore thereby causing huge loss to the government."

2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee Chairman Mr. Suresh Kalmadi and the Secretary-General Dr. Lalit Bhanot were asked to vacate their posts today by new Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Ajay Maken. Jarnail Singh, the CEO of the Organizing Committee will take charge of all the remaining duties that need to be carried out by the OC.

Mr. Maken, cited that he was acting on the instructions of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in taking the decision to terminate the two senior officials from their posts, as the authority had declared that their presence was hindering the investigation of allegations into a massive corruption scandal.

Commonwealth Games 2010 Organizing Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi today lashed out against Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit after the latter had pointed fingers in his direction in relation to the corruption probe launched by the Indian Prime Minister on the conclusion of the Games.

In a very strongly worded statement Kalmadi said, " Mrs. Dikshit's aspersions on corruption in the Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi are most disappointing and uncalled for. It is not right to deflect and point fingers at others when she must indulge in self-reflection on corruption in her own departments. She has said that the ways of the Organising Committee are mysterious whereas the Commonwealth Games chief Mr. Michael Fennell declared the conduct of the Games as exceptional and successful.

The Commonwealth Games Federation announced late on Friday that Nigerian runner Folashade Abugan returned an adverse analytical finding from a test conducted on October 8, 2010, after competing in the women's 400 metre final.Â Ms Abugan's "A" sample was found to demonstrate findings consistent with an exogenous origin of endogenous steroids. The delta values indicate an application of testosterone prohormone, which is prohibited under the current WADA Prohibited List S1 Anabolic Agents.

Subsequently, Ms Abugan wrote to the CGF waiving her rights to have her "B" sample analysed and a hearing, as provided for within the CGF Anti-Doping Standard (ADS). She also admitted liability.Â The Federation Court has determined that Ms Abugan had committed an anti-doping rule violation. Consequently, she has been disqualified from all events she participated in during the Games, with the results nullified.

Jamaican athlete Trecia Smith has been named as the winner of the David Dixon Award at the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.Â The prestigious award recognises sporting excellence, combined with fair play and team spirit.

Smith, the 2005 triple jump world champion, performed superbly in winning her event at the Games to grab back-to-back Commonwealth titles.

Immediately after her event, Smith, a physiotherapist, joined the Jamaican medical team, working tirelessly across the remainder of the Games to help her teammates prepare for their competition.

Under fire Commonwealth Games 2010 Organizing Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi issued a statement today thanking the people of Delhi for playing its part in organizing a great Games.

Kalmadi said, "The people of Delhi and India have done themselves proud as they have successfully hosted Delhi 2010, overcoming all challenges, and demonstrated to the world that the have the capacity and commitment to host major international events.

The OC boss then went on to praise his own team for their role in delivering a great Games. Kalmadi said, "The Indian Olympic Association was responsible for winning the bid to host the Games in Delhi. And the Organising Committee was given the task of delivering the opening and closing ceremonies and the sporting competitions. We have delivered the task of conducting the Games really well. The grand opening and closing ceremonies as well as the actual conduct of the sporting competition have received widespread acclaim and praise, including from athletes and team officials as well as from media at home and overseas.

With respect to the allegations of corruption that surrounded the build-up to the Games, Kalmadi shared, "The Honourable Prime Minister has appointed a committee to probe into all matters relating to the Commonwealth Games. We welcome the initiative and hope that it will be comprehensive, covering all aspects. The Organising Committee will be happy to provide all support to the panel.

Kalmadi concluded by thanking all the stakeholders for playing their role to perfection in the conduct of the Games, and also expressed his delight at India's athletes achieving a record medals haul.

He said, "The Organising Committee wishes to acknowledge the contributions by all those involved in the preparations and delivery of the Games, especially all stakeholders, the 22,000 volunteers who worked tirelessly and were India's ambassadors during the Games, and the media for its wonderful coverage of the Games. We owe special gratitude to the thousands of security personnel who ensured fool-proof and incident-free security arrangements, foiling any attempts to disrupt the ceremonies and the competitions. Senior Government officials, hundreds of sports officials, National Sports Federations and security agencies worked hard for years and their contribution need to be acknowledged.

"With 101 medals from 12 sport, India's sportspersons finished higher than ever before in a Commonwealth Games and made India proud.

"The whole effort of organising the Games has been applauded by the Commonwealth community and summed by the Commonwealth Games Federation President Mr. Michael Fennell that Delhi has delivered a truly exceptional Games."